But if you were looking for excitement, that was it. It was a ceremony that, for the most part, was just as boring and routine as these things go.

Yet there was something bizarre about Trump glad-handing his way through the House chamber like past presidents and imploring Congress to enact his policies: He was appealing to a roomful of people that he’s been insulting and humiliating for the last year.

Looking out into the crowd, a few rows in, Trump could easily spot Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the target of some of his nastiest attacks on the campaign trail. Among other things, Trump fueled a conspiracy theory that “Lyin’ Ted’s” father was an associate of President John F. Kennedy’s murderer. Trump also tweeted an unflattering photo of the senator’s wife, Heidi Cruz, with a warning that he would “spill the beans” on something about her.

Sanford acknowledged the absurdity of Trump urging unity with the same people he’s torn to shreds in the past year. He just put it more diplomatically.

“I would just say this: Memories tend to die slowly in the world of politics,” he said. “I don’t think it was lost on many of the people who have been contestants in the Republican primary, or maybe on the opposite side of a policy debate in the campaign, that some of what he said was maybe a long way from what he said ten months ago, or six months ago.”

Democrats were more willing to point out the gaping disconnect between the president’s words and his persona.

“It felt surreal to see Donald Trump walk in and be identified as the president of the United States and start giving that speech,” said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who Trump trolled last month on Twitter over his role in Democratic National Committee elections.

“He goes in there and gives a speech, where he says a few nice things about some people with illnesses and some soldiers and some police officers, and now all of a sudden we think he’s a good guy?” Ellison said. “He’s not a good guy. He’s a good actor.”

In the end, there was one thing that did make Trump’s joint address to Congress different from those of his predecessors: immediately after his speech, Democrats got up and left without waiting to see him off first.

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